Trekking in Sikkim

sagarneel

Hi All,
To a trekker, Sikkim is a paradise.....with its splendid views of Mt Kanchenjunga, lush green forests , and wide variety of rhododendrons during April May......Sikkim is a must go for a trekker.
Her's a few routes:
1. Mainam / Valedunga from Ravangla - 1 day.
2. Varsey from Hilley - 4 km gentle trek.
3. Tendong hill / Damthang trek
4. Goecha la trek - Starts from Yuksum...the Kanchnejunga base camp trek. Approx 10 days. Includes the beautiful Samity lake as well.
5. Green kale trek- Starts from Lachen. Approx 10 days.

There are a other routes as well, which I dont know...looking forward to hear from IM ers.

Regards,
Sagarneel.

Yves

Hi there Sagarneel,

Travelling in Sikkim in the beginning of October for about 20 days (good period as I read in one of your other posts). I would like to know what you would advise me as it is for trekking. I was thinking about a 10-day trek, leaving me 10 days to do some site-seeing in Sikkim. Which city would I leave from? Gangtok?

Arriving in Delhi the 22nd, my friend is joining me the 26th. I would take the train from Delhi to Siliguri (maybe with a stop in Agra) and from there take a shared jeep to Gangtok (how long would we have to drive)?

I was also thinking of doing some rafting, and mountainbiking, each one day. Is that possible at that time of the year.

I'm also looking for a good guidebook about Sikkim, but I think people do not realize yet this is a whole in the market? Do you know one ?

Thanks for your help.

piran_e

Yves,

Begining October is a very nice time to be in Sikkim, especially if you want to trek since the weather would be clear. If you want to trek for around 10 days then Goecha la would be a nice trek to do . Though foreigners would need to go through a travel agent as they require permits. I myself am doing a trek in west sikkim during that period.

From Silliguri it would take aroud 4 hours to reach gantok and the cost is around Rs.150 per seat. The best guide book you can buy is "Sikkim- A Guide and Handbook" by Rajesh Verma, unluckily it is only available in Gantok.

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Walking a Dream

Yves

Hi piran_e,

Thanx for your reply ! Where can I find information about the different treks? I should get some information about it before being able to dicide which trek to take...

Which city is best to get to, to get the best trekking opportunities? Is Gangtok the best option?

Thanks a lot for your help !

piran_e

Yves

Do a google search on sikkim + treks and you will get the required information . As such there are only 3-4 official treks which agencies offer. Yes your best option would be to go to Gantok as most of the travel agencies are based over there and the permits are only issued from Gantok.

sagarneel

Hi Yves,
You have chosen the best time of the year...and you have enough time in your hand. As far as the best option you're taliking of, Gangtok should ideally be your hub , as you'll manage to find the transport to all the parts of Sikkim from Gangtok.But there are no good trekking routes that start from gangtok. I would suggest you Ravangla as your starting point, if you want to trek to Mainam and Valedunga. If you opt for a more adventourous trek, then head for Goechala pass, the base canp of Kanchenjunga. For this , you would need to start from Yuksom. Both Ravangla and Yuksom have good road connections with Gangtok. For river rafting and you can contact the Sikkim tourism office in delhi:
Sikkim House,Malcha Marg
Chanakya Puri, Delhi, 110021
Phone no:
+91 11 26115346‎
+91 11 26115171‎
+91 11 26119870‎
+91 11 26881976‎.
Wish you a great trip....
Regards,
Sagarneel.

amavi

Hi Yves
i'm also a non-indian and i'm looking for travel companions for trekking in the very beginning of october, to share the total cost. However i'm considering sandakhpu trek or singalila trek (at least part of it), because i did goecha la trek already. if you are interested in having an extra person joining your group and if we plan the same thing at the same time - please inform me
a kind of an advantage perhaps is that i do happen to have that guidebook by rajesh verma that sagarneel mentioned